IRVINE, Calif. — Auburn's business trip to the West Coast took a serious tone Wednesday.

Happy New Year. The Tigers began their preparation for Monday's BCS Championship Game against Florida State with a practice session at UC-Irvine.

This video shows Auburn's arrival, a little Gus Malzahn, players such as Nick Marshall and the Tigers' journey to the practice field. There are also players and staff giving play-by-play man Rod Bramblett a good-natured hard time.

Auburn meets the media again Thursday morning. Florida State does too. Then it's back to the practice field at UC-Irvine.

Video time: Auburn begins work at UC-Irvine...

Charles Goldberg is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter:Follow @AUGoldMine